Patricia Facts

1) Who is Sister Patricia Contemplata?

In AD&D terms, she’s a 20th-level Lawful Good human monk by the time she finishes the original Shadows of Amn game.

2) Are you doing the Anomen romance?

Yes. Obviously, Tisha is going to push him down the lawful path within the game’s decision tree. One of the challenges for me as the author has been to make a relationship between these two seem plausible. I’ve tried to make Anomen a bit more sympathetic than his early game dialogue suggests.

3) Why is Patricia a bit older than specified in the original Baldur’s Gate game?

It is essential to the plot I am developing that she and Imoen be the first two Bhaalspawns created. Since the Time of Troubles was 20 years ago, and Bhaal supposedly foresaw his demise, I needed to make her at least a few years older than that. It also helps improve the romance; Anomen’s portrait does not look as if he is only 20, either.

4) Who drew that portrait?

The portrait I have used for Patricia is the only one I’ve been able to find so far that comes anywhere close to my mental picture of her. (I’d prefer a slightly less Elizabethan look.) It’s a painting by Millais entitled “Rosalind in the Forest”, and portrays a character from one of Shakespeare’s plays, who has disguised herself as a man in order to seek her lover. If you like this style of art, I suggest looking at the artists featured at www.pre-raphaelites.com.

5) What are Patricia’s stats?

The two statistics that are vitally important to the development of the story are her high base Charisma and mediocre Constitution. She will spend most of the game/novel with an effective Charisma of 20. Her Constitution, on the other hand, is a relatively weak 10. Otherwise, I write her in the novel as a little less strong and a bit smarter and wiser than her actual scores.